


Pigments and Solvents

by TNKT



Series: TNKT's AUs for Detroit: Become Human [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Amanda is Connor and Nines' mom, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Parenting, Carl is Markus' godfather, Chloe the bi babe, Closeted Connor, Codependency, College AU, Conditioning, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Siblings, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Needs a Hug, Connor Deserves Happiness, Connor's a nerd, Cool Kids Jericrew, Denial of Feelings, Depression, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Emotionally Repressed, Family Secrets, Feelings Realization, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Hank Anderson & Connor Friendship, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, Josh the mom friend, Kamski is some seminary guy, M/M, Markus the himbo, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mutual Pining, Nightmares, Nines is also a cool kid, North the feral lesbian, Oblivious Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Oblivious Markus (Detroit: Become Human), POV Alternating, Physical Abuse, Pining, Poor Connor, Protective Upgraded Connor | RK900, Self-Esteem Issues, Simon the "straight" man, Slow Burn, Supportive Hank Anderson, Supportive Upgraded Connor | RK900, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Needs a Hug, Whump, hank is a teacher, mom as in so completely done with her kids' shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:35:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23396377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TNKT/pseuds/TNKT
Summary: Second year Markus chose a bio Minor. First year Connor chose an art Minor. Markus sucks at bio and Connor sucks at art- what a convenient (and in Connor's case, unfortunate) set-up to tutor each other! Somewhere along the way the flirty airheaded art aficionado and the cold stuck-up science nerd start getting closer, and so do their friends. The conclusion would be an easy one to reach for Markus' effortless charm... If only Connor wasn't trapped so irremediably deep in the closet.
Relationships: Connor/Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Original Chloe | RT600/North, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Josh
Series: TNKT's AUs for Detroit: Become Human [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036425
Comments: 78
Kudos: 165





	1. The Sterns

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the Pumpkin Patch for the inspiration and the crack scenarios <3

It was summer in Detroit. School had been over for more than a month, families had left their houses with the blinds pulled and the electricity turned off, the sun's rays were beating down on asphalt and concrete while children ran across their playground with a precarious hold on their ice cream cones. It was a beautiful day to spend outside, and many took advantage of the sunny weather to eat their lunch on the patio. The Sterns, however, did not. 

The family of three were well-known in the neighbourhood not only for Amanda Stern's success as the founder of one of America's biggest lab industries, but also for their oddly restrained lifestyle. It wasn't in the financial sense, as their clean white modern-styled house was the biggest one around and surrounded by high gates that delimited a wide garden, but rather in their social interactions. Amanda Stern did not care to communicate with her neighbours, and her sons had never been the type to linger in the streets the way other children did. Sometimes, expensive-looking cars drove up to the front of the gates and the distinguished people that walked out of the vehicle and into the Sterns' domain would be the talk of the neighbourhood for days. On more regular occasions, Amanda Stern would have materials from her own company be delivered to her doorstep, but this was a common occurrence and it was a long time since anybody still cared to know what kind of supplies these were. Overall, the Sterns were a rather mysterious variable in Detroit's population and all that was really known about them was that Amanda Stern had adopted the two boys when they'd first been seen in the neighbourhood about twelve years ago, and in those twelve years they'd never much been part of it.

It was quiet in the spacious and clean living room as the Stern family ate their meal, save for the occasional clinking of a fork against a plate. The light poured in through the wide, closed windows and bounced off the white tiles to illuminate the room. The television was turned off, as it often was, and there was no background chatter or singing emanating from the radio. Their meals were always calm, and the only times anyone spoke was when Amanda started the conversation. The two boys sometimes glanced at each other over their plates, but they never made an attempt to talk as long as Amanda wasn't a part of it. It simply had never been that way during a meal. Amanda lowered her fork in her plate and brought a napkin to her lips, then neatly folded it next to her plate and settled her hands on the table in front of her. Both boys immediately lowered their cutlery as well and looked up at her.

Her dark eyes found her elder and she said in a tranquil voice: "How is it?"

Connor's gaze flickered down to his half-eaten plate and then back to his mother's face. "It's delicious."

She smiled, satisfied. "Good. Hurry up and finish, we're not going to wait for you all day." Then looked at his brother and told him: "Go get the rest, everything's already out on the counter."

Nines rose from his seat and picked up his plate as well as Amanda's, both of which had contained a single whole serving of food, and walked to the kitchen while Connor picked up the pace at which he ate the second half Amanda had given him. Nines heard Amanda talk again as he put away the dirty dishes in their corresponding rack.

"Have you had any second thoughts about going to Mercy?"

"No. I know it's the best choice."

Nines tried to go slower in his movements as he closed the dishwasher.

"Have you picked your Minor yet?"

"I'm not sure. I want to see how I'm going to handle the rest before choosing."

"Connor, you know you should get as many credits as you can. Why are you so hesitant?"

"I just don't want to risk getting overwhelmed, I've heard that two majors can be a lot to deal with."

"Not for you," Amanda said, her voice decisive. "Whoever told you that, you're better than them. You have to take a Minor."

"I will, Mom. I'll just wait for a week or two before choosing."

"Don't be late to the enrollment deadlines, then. Come on, Connor, finish your plate. Richard, what's taking so long?"

"I'm coming!" he called back, and picked up the tray of cheese and fruit before making his way to the table. 

Connor wasn't done by the time he reached it, and Amanda chidingly told him: "Put it aside, you'll finish it later. I'm not going to wait for you to move on."

"Yes, sorry. I'll go put it in the fridge." Connor went to stand up as Nines put the cheese on the table, but Amanda stopped him.

"No, don't get up. Richard will take it back." She handed the plate to her younger son without looking at him and he eyed her resentfully, but he did as she'd said. Connor sat back down.

"Now, we both know college is going to be very different from high school. I'm trusting you not to be irresponsible with your studies and to use your free time wisely, all right? Don't get into trouble."

"I know."

"And if Chloe is in your class, try to get to know her better than you did last year. It's important to establish a connection with her mother."

Nines rolled his eyes behind the cover of the kitchen wall as he opened the fridge and moodily thrust the plastic sheet-covered plate inside.

"I'm not sure she'll be there."

" _If_ she is, Connor. Listen to me when I speak."

"Sorry."

"I've looked into the teachers who will be holding your courses. Unfortunately, there is one Hank Anderson who doesn't have a very good reputation so I'd advise you not to get too close for him, even if it will be necessary to take his class. There are rumors about their mathematics teachers acting very unprofessional with his students. I don't want you associating with the likes of him. Don't talk to him, pretend he isn't there if you have to."

"Yes."

Nines started setting out the clean plates on the table, and because Amanda had stopped talking, silence fell over them once more. 

As soon as they were done eating Amanda rose from her chair and exited the room, and the two brothers were left to clean up the living room and the kitchen together.

"She's so hung up on Chloe," Nines grumbled.

"Yeah, I know." Connor ran his hand across the tablecloth to pick up the crumbs. "I mean, she's nice, she's smart, I think we could still be friends if I don't fuck it up like last year."

Nines snorted. "Uh, yeah, maybe _don't_ push her in nettle next time."

Connor shot him a look. "You know I didn't do it on purpose."

In the middle of their senior year of high school, the science teachers had organized a field trip to the Osborn Forest for all the twelvth graders. It had been interesting and fun for everyone up until the point Chloe had tried kissing Connor at the back of the trail and he'd panicked, pushing her back so fast that she'd tripped and tumbled over in a ditch filled with various weeds. Poor Chloe had been pulled out of the nettle red and screaming, and Amanda had later been livid to hear what Connor had done to the daughter of one of her most interesting prospects. Chloe and Connor had been getting along pretty well since the start of the year, but after that Chloe never talked to him again and Connor was further ostracized by his class for being the weird guy who'd not only rejected the most popular girl in school but also embarrassed her in front of everyone. It hadn't been the greatest year for Connor, but fortunately it had been the last of high school.

"I actually kind of hope she won't notice you, if she does end up taking the same courses," Nines told him. 

"Me too," sighed Connor, and he resumed swiping the table free of crumbs. "Me too."

They finished tidying the place and threw away the last scraps, and then Nines said: "Want to go outside?"

"You know I have to study."

"Come on, just for a few minutes. I'm going to go crazy if we stay cooped up in here all week! We could go to the park or something."

Connor shook his head as he turned on the faucet to wash his hands. "Nope, sorry. You can go on ahead, though."

Nines crossed his arms in frustration. They both knew he wouldn't do that, and the fact that Connor said it so carelessly pissed him off. "You think you're so smart."

Connor cut the stream of water and wiped his hands, shrugging. "Yeah, I'm pretty smart."

Nines clicked his tongue in annoyance and shoved Connor in the shoulder before spinning around to go sulk in his room. He knew he probably should've begun studying weeks ago like Connor had, but Nines wasn't like his brother. Amanda wouldn't really care if he didn't strive for perfection as long as he had high enough grades to uphold the Sterns' reputation of being better than anyone else, and she knew her younger son was more intelligent anyway. She would've tried to push him to do his best like she did for Connor, but Nines was too rebellious and she'd given up on controlling his studies long ago.

Connor watched him leave, then stared out the nearest window at the vibrant green blades of grass and the red roses lining the gates. There was no point in wasting time in a park when they had a garden right there. Not only did it serve no purpose whatsoever, but Amanda would be disappointed if she saw him doing anything other than studying when the beginning of the autumn term was this close. Connor felt a bit bad for Nines, but it wasn't like he was forcing his brother to stay indoors and he could always hang out in the garden. He'd genuinely wanted Nines to go to the park without him, it wasn't Connor's fault if Nines decided not to. Connor finished drying his hands on the rag and hung it neatly on the rod that was screwed to the door beneath the sink, then turned around and followed in Nines' footsteps. He walked past the roses in the vase next to the kitchen and those hanging from the wall of the entrance, past the bathroom, Nines' room, and Amanda's room to finally reach his own at the very end of the corridor. He pushed down the handle and hesitated, looked back up towards Nines' room from which emanated the muffled thwacks of flesh hitting a punching bag, then pushed his door open and stepped inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 30/03/2020 -
> 
> Hey pumpkin!  
> I've been sitting on this AU for a while now. Of course since the characters won't have their canon pasts, they're not going to be completely in character. However I always keep the same take on their base personality traits so it shouldn't be too jarring for you guys! This was originally just fluff and humor when we first talked about the science major Connor/art major Markus scenarios on the server, I just chose to dump my usual dose of angst and whump in the plot.
> 
> Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you feel like it!


	2. The Manfred Household

A few districts away, another young man was studying for his own major in the tranquillity of his studio. It wasn't really his, he was basically freeloading at his godfather's, but he'd been living in Carl Manfred's house for a year and it already felt like home. The studio was entirely made of glass and covered in curtains, but a few slivers of sunlight slipped in and bounced off the various splashes of dried pigment on the floor. Carl was playing the piano just beyond the studio and his son Leo was probably getting smashed somewhere. Markus was never too sure where the guy went off to by himself, he only knew Carl didn't like it. By extension, Markus didn't either. He was almost done shading the first layer of his painted landscape which he could already tell was going to be a disaster. He'd known it would be like this because he was bad at landscapes, and that was exactly why he was spending his summer break trying to improve on them, but it still felt pretty bad to observe that he hadn't made much progress since the last term had ended. Fortunately, Carl understood the struggles Markus was going through as an artist himself and he was there to encourage him, so that helped a bit. Markus leaned back in his chair to try and get a general view of the piece when he heard the front door slam shut and Leo start braying on the other side of the house.

"Oh, come on," groaned Markus. 

The piano stopped playing and Carl's voice rose next. The two had started fighting in less than a second so Markus resolved to lay his brush to the side and get up to see what was going on. As soon as he opened the door to the living room, he could see that he was already late to the fight. Leo was letting out a "fuck off, Dad" and Carl was sighing and running his hand down his face.

"Everything all right?" inquired Markus as he stepped closer.

"Yeah, yeah," said Carl with a wave of his hand before wheeling away. "Just Leo thinking he's tough shit, you know the drill."

Markus shot the stairs a disapproving look, as if that would change anything to Leo's piss-poor attitude, and then followed Carl to the bookshelves. He was done playing the piano, apparently. 

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it, it's not your job to look after us," stated Carl as he reached for one of his many books, and then he looked up at Markus. "How's your painting going?"

"Uh. Pretty terrible, I think," Markus admitted.

Carl laughed, a rough but amused sound that made Markus smile too. 

"Yeah, well, you've been at it all morning, you might want to take a break," the man suggested.

"If I take a break, I'm not getting back to it today."

"It's your call," said Carl with a little shrug, and Markus stepped aside to let him wheel past him. "Think you might have forgotten to eat, so I left a plate out for you in the micro-wave."

Markus suddenly realized just how hungry he was. His gaze flew up to the grandfather clock and he noticed with a shock that it was already 2PM. He'd thought it wasn't even noon. "I totally lost track of time, thanks for that."

"No problem, now go get some food in your belly before you pass out on me."

Markus spun around and hurried to the kitchen as the pit in his stomach grew and gnawed at him now that he'd acknowledged his hunger. It was kind of amazing how weird the human body could be. He made a beeline for the micro-wave and the smell that wafted out when he pulled open the door came straight from heaven. He lifted the microwave cover and his gaze landed on the glistening slice of pizza. His saving grace.

"Mmmmmh, yeah, come to daddy," he whispered to himself.

He pulled out the still warm plate from the microwave and didn't even sit down at the table, just went to stand over it and then started shoveling the wonderful doughy, cheesy, pepperony confection in his mouth. He probably still had paint on his fingers, but by the time he thought of it he was already halfway through his meal. It wasn't that bad, he'd eaten paint by accident before and had paid no consequences for it whatsoever. Markus never got digestive problems anyways, his mom said his tract probably had a supernaturally hard lining. That, or the saying "idiots don't get sick" actually had a scientific basis. Once he was done, Markus almost went to lick his fingers but then remembered the not washing his hands thing, so he managed to hold back and went to wash his plate in the sink. Carl came in a few minutes later.

"So, how're you feeling about getting back to class on Monday?"

Markus finished drying the plate and went to pile it on top of the others in the cupboard. "Pretty good, actually. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with the crew again."

"You'll probably have less time to do that with your new minor."

Markus shrugged. "It's not that big a deal, I'm just curious. I'll drop it if it gets too tiring."

"That's not a winner's way of thinking," pointed out Carl.

Markus grinned at him. "Never said I was one. I'm telling you, I'm just curious is all. It doesn't look that hard anyway so I probably won't have to drop it."

Carl raised dubious eyebrows, looking like he was about to say something, but Markus had turned around to close the cupboard and in the end the old man just settled for an amused smile. His godson would soon figure out for himself if he'd been too optimistic about his choice of courses. Markus was done eating so they both went back to the living room and then split ways when he decided to go upstairs to his room upon remembering he still hadn't covered his brand-new books with plastic. He went across the landing that made a complete circle around the first floor, and when he walked by Leo's room he was hit by a unpleasant and unfortunately familiar smell. Markus felt his blood boil and he immediately spun around to fling the door wide open.

"Are you serious right now?!"

Leo jumped in his bed, nearly letting go of his joint in his surprise, and then glared at Markus and barked: "What?"

Markus stomped inside the room, picked up one of the dirty shirts lying around on the floor, balled it up and smacked it in the other's face. "Don't do that here!"

"Hey, get out of my room!" yelled Leo as he threw the shirt missile right back at Markus' hip. "What the hell's your problem?"

"You're the problem! You stink, dude!" Markus turned around to throw the windows open, and then he stalked up to Leo. "Get out!"

"What're you gonna do, huh?" Leo jeered at him, and he took another provocative drag before shooting him a smug, smoke-riddled grin. "Gonna hit me, pussy?"

"Sometimes I wonder what's stopping me," Markus ground out, and he lunged for the offensive joint. Leo immediately threw up his feet and hit Markus in the chin, who was only stunned for a second before he grabbed Leo by the side of his clothes and tugged him closer until he could reach for the joint. There was a short moment of wrestling and grunting until Leo bucked so violently that they both slipped off the bed and landed onto the floor with a crash.

"What the hell are you two doing up there?!" yelled Carl's voice from downstairs.

Neither of them answered to him as they grappled for the joint that had slipped out of Leo's hand and bounced a few feet away.

"Get off me, you psycho!" screamed Leo as Markus pulled him backwards and climbed over him to get to it. Leo was determined to get his precious belonging back, however, and Markus tripped when he grabbed his ankle and pulled him off balance. They both slammed to the ground a second time and the scuffle lasted for a minute before Markus finally managed to get back on his hands and knees and quickly scooted up to the joint to stomp on it.

"No!" Leo screamed like Markus had just squashed his unborn child beneath his heel. What a drama queen.

"Shut up," grunted Markus as he got back to his feet.

"Motherfucker!" Leo was on him in the next second and Markus saw a fist hurtle towards his face. A part of his brain thought: _yeah, okay, maybe I deserve this,_ and then his head snapped back and pain exploded in his face.

"Ow, shit!" he exclaimed, a hand flying up to his head.

"I'm gonna kill you, you bitch!" raved Leo.

" _That's enough!_ " The roar came from the doorway, and both of them froze on the spot to face an absolutely livid Carl. "I've _had it_ with you two! If you want to pick a fight, do it outside! And you," he seethed at Leo, "I don't want to see your filthy drugs anywhere near my house."

"Yeah, like _you_ never smoked weed in your life," Leo spat at him, stepping away from Markus to scoop up the remains of his joint.

"Exactly," Carl said in a cold voice. "I don't smoke anymore, have some goddamn respect."

"Whatever." Leo rolled his eyes, and then he got back up. On his way out, he thrust his index finger in Markus' chest and warned in a low voice: "Watch yourself."

Then he pushed past Carl so brutally it made the old man's wheelchair spin back and hit the doorframe, and Markus rushed to grab a handle and steady it. They both watched the young man leave and then Markus felt a frail hand settle on his arm.

"Show me your face," instructed Carl.

Markus complied, and as he did so he asked: "Are you okay?"

Carl squinted at the bruise that was probably forming on Markus' face while he absent-mindedly rubbed his chest. "The old heart made a few somersaults, but it's slowing down. Damn, he got you good."

"Ah, yeah," said Markus, and he covered his face with his hand again. "I did ruin his joint though. Not cool."

"No, not cool," agreed Carl. "But at least you didn't toss it out the window still lit. Come on, let's get you some ice for that."

Markus nodded and started pushing him across the landing to the beginning of the stairs where he helped Carl on the wheelchair lift, then walked down the stairs at Carl's pace, his eye throbbing worse and worse until they finally got to the freezer. Carl rapidly wrapped the ice in a towel and ordered Markus to sit down, then gently applied it to his face. The relief was nearly instant. 

"You hadn't gotten into a fight with him in a while," said Carl in a low voice.

"He _knows_ you don't want drugs here," Markus said resentfully, starting to feel heated all over again. "He wasn't even trying to hide it, the windows were closed."

"That's why I tell you not to worry about us, it's not worth it. It'll still be like this when you're gone."

"Yeah, well I don't want it to be as long as I'm here," declared Markus. "And this isn't okay, Carl, you can't continue like this. You have your health to look after and he's just making things worse. I know you two having the same blood is important and all that stuff, but he's obviously got no respect for you as your son and that's-"

"Hey," sharply said Carl. "It's none of your business."

Markus realized he'd overstepped his boundaries and quickly said: "Sorry Carl."

Carl's lips remained stiff in a disapproval, but he relaxed a little. "I'm fine with letting you stay here however long you need, but that's only if you stay in your lane."

Markus sheepishly nodded but then remembered there was an ice pack being held up to his face, so he stopped nodding and said: "I understand."

Carl nodded. "Good." He pulled back the ice and checked his face, and let out a low whistle. "You're gonna get a reputation first day of school with a bruise like that."

"Some people dig it," answered Markus. "Rough looks have their charm."

Carl shot him a look. "I think what they like is the idea of a brawler, Markus."

"I can hold my own," Markus said defensively.

Carl finally grinned and shook his head. "Right, whatever you say."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 10/04/2020 - 
> 
> Hey pumpkin!  
> Yep, I'm essentially keeping the dynamic as in the game for these guys. It's too interesting not to. And although Carl doesn't consider Markus as his son, they're still very close, so the rivalry between Leo and Markus remains.  
> I'm really enjoying writing this version of Markus.
> 
> Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you feel like it!


	3. Back to Class

"Wow, you look like shit," was the first thing Nines told Connor upon joining him at the breakfast table on the first morning of their first term of college.

"Thanks," deadpanned Connor.

Nines went to grab his box of Crunch cereal, a bowl and a glass of milk still dressed in his black pyjamas and sat down next to Connor, who was already in a tidy white T-shirt and dark gray jeans. He was eating his usual two pieces of toast with a sunny side up egg and freshly pressed orange juice. They didn't eat breakfast with their mother because she was always gone by five in the morning, but they never missed the first meal of the day nor any other meal for that matter. Nines could choose whatever he felt like choosing but Connor had picked up the habit of eating healthy foods. It was one of Amanda's expectations that actually benefitted his health.

"Trouble sleeping?" asked Nines before crunching on his spoonful of dry cereal.

"You know how it goes," tiredly answered Connor. He was pale and had bags under his eyes, but it wasn't an uncommon occurrence for him to experience bouts of insomnia.

"Ready to face the outside world? I bet you five bucks you'll hiss when the sunlight hits you."

Connor smiled and shoved Nines' shoulder. "Shut up."

They finished eating, and then Nines went to dress up while Connor waited for him downstairs. The sun was still rising so Connor took advantage of the small moment of peace to admire the colors of the sky once he'd retrieved his backpack. Nines reappeared in beige pants and a gray shirt with the sleeves pulled up to the elbow a few minutes later. He looked around, grabbed his laced boots and then slipped his satchel bag on his shoulder, and they headed out to the car. Connor was the one to drive but Nines was eager to learn, and he'd already started memorizing the code even if he wouldn't be getting his own driver's license for at least two more years.

Connor parked the car somewhere on the edge of the college parking lot and they followed the crowd into the main building where their first class of the day was held. They stuck together and kept to themselves like they always did as they floated amidst the sea of students. They hadn't had to hang out with other people in a while and it was a bit overwhelming to be surrounded by so many faces and voices at once. Connor was the first to locate the auditorium and he pulled Nines along into the spacious, well lit room. A lot of the seats were already taken despite them arriving early.

"Connor, look."

Nines pointed ahead and Connor recognized Chloe standing just a few yards from them. She was wearing a light blue dress and Connor remembered two things: that blue was her favourite color and that he'd always found her to be pretty, like now. Connor brought Nines' arm down in a flash and spun the both of them around so she wouldn't see their faces.

"Don't _point_ at her!" he hissed.

Nines listlessly let his arm stay in his grasp. "She's going to notice us eventually."

Connor felt defeat suddenly settle on his shoulders when he realized that not only his brother was right, but he'd have to talk to her anyway because Amanda wanted him to. The thought crossed his mind that maybe he could take the first day to adjust, but he knew deep down that Amanda wouldn't accept that excuse. If Chloe was in his sights, he needed to approach her. When Connor got ahold of himself and spun back around, Chloe was gone. Looking around the auditorium quickly turned out fruitless with so many people coming on the first day of classes. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in and looked at Nines.

"Let's just find a seat."

They walked down a few rows and decided to sit somewhere in the middle of the ranks, a little bit off to the side; they wouldn't be bothered by loud students at the back and weren't too close to get noticed by the teacher who'd yet to arrive. Connor lowered his backpack to the ground as he settled in his chair while Nines carelessly let his bag slap the surface of the table and dropped his body in the spot next to his brother. Connor leaned over and rummaged through his stuff to find a pencil and a piece of paper as people walked past him. He saw someone stop next to him out of the corner of his eye and didn't pay the person any attention until she spoke up.

"Hi Connor, hi Nines."

They both looked up at the blonde girl in surprise, and Nines answered: "Hi Chloe."

She sat down with a sigh and started taking out her laptop. "I thought there would be more people from high school here." Connor hadn't expected this in the slightest and he just stared at her as Chloe resignedly continued talking. "I mean there are, but ugh, you know? That or I don't really know them."

Nines nudged him and Connor blurted out: "Sorry about the nettle."

She stopped moving and looked at him, then at her belongings, and after a moment she said: "Yeah, sorry about not talking to you after. It was just, you know, really embarrassing."

Connor nodded.

"Maybe warn a guy next time," Nines told her, and Connor elbowed him in the gut.

Chloe looked back up at them. "I know, it was stupid. I promise I won't try to kiss you again."

Connor shifted uneasily, not really knowing what to answer. A thank you would sound kind of weird.

"Plus, I have a girlfriend now so you're super safe, couldn't be safer," insisted Chloe when he didn't say anything.

"Woah, really? So you're into girls in the end?" asked Nines. Connor spun around instantly to glare at him but was ignored.

"Turns out, both," said Chloe with a proud grin. "It's only official since this summer though."

"Cool," simply commented Nines.

Connor held back his remarks, even though he really wanted to kick his brother in the shins for meddling with business that didn't concern him. They were lucky she was open about this, it would've made it difficult for Connor if she'd gotten offended by his brother's blunt question.

"Anyway, since we're not in high school anymore I thought we could just start over and forget that whole nettle incident," said Chloe. "It's been a year already so I was kinda hoping you'd be cool with that."

"Yes! Yes, absolutely," hastily said Connor. Too hastily. It made him sound desperate and he tried not to cringe at his own reaction.

Chloe smiled, amused. "You're still pretty awkward, aren't you?"

Nines laughed and Connor felt his face heat up.

"Sorry, sorry," she quickly said, her eyes widening like she hadn't thought that through. "I just- I guess I've missed that a little. I was really stupid to stop talking to you over something so small."

"It's fine," quickly said Connor. "We were both embarrassed."

Her lips twisted a bit and she looked like she wanted to disagree, but in the end she didn't and opened her laptop instead. "I heard the bio professor's kinda weird."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Creep-weird."

"But isn't he supposed to be really good at what he does?" intervened Nines. "I thought he was one of the state's best researchers in biotechnology."

"Oh, he is, but that doesn't mean he can't be a creep," stated Chloe.

"Hello students," called a friendly-sounding voice from below. 

The man that had entered the room had a thick beard and greasy hair, and his rumpled dark red collar shirt and worn jeans contibuted to his messy appearance. He didn't look like a professor aiming for a stern first impression but he didn't look like he cared much about personal hygiene either. The hubbub in the auditorium started dying down as he continued to talk.

"I'm Professor Zlatko Andronikov, biology teacher. You may have heard of me in the spheres of biotechnology and transhumanism. I've authored a fair number of articles on the subject."

He didn't _sound_ like a creep. Connor glanced at Chloe, who caught him looking and raised an eyebrow as if to say " _no, really, he is, just wait._ "

"I'm sure you've already checked this year's program but it'll probably be helpful if we go over it together, and then I'd like to ask a few of you at random what you expect from this class." The man had set the meager pile of papers he'd been holding to the side and turned on the computer, which was still starting up. "On second thought, maybe we'll start with that since the technology in this place is... uncooperative. All right, you there, what's your name and why did you pick biology?"

His finger was aimed at Nines. 

_Great_ , thought Connor. _Just love it when teachers start picking people out of the lot on the very first day._

"Richard Stern. My major's in Biomedical Engineering," said Nines. His answer was pretty self-explanatory.

There was a wave of whispers and some surprised voices, and when heads swivelled around to stare at them both Connor wished he could shrink back into in his seat so far he'd disappear. He hated that it was so easy for people to recognize them. Stern wasn't exactly an uncommon name to have but students that wanted to work in the biological field had probably heard about CyberLife at least once in their lives, and Nines and Connor had made the papers a few times before.

"Ah," smiled Professor Andronikov like they were familiar with each other already. "Why this major, then?"

"I just like the idea of understanding how the body works."

The professor nodded approvingly. "Is there any domain in particular you see yourself working in?"

"Making body parts sounds cool," declared Nines.

"It is!" exclaimed Professor Andronikov. "In fact, artificial organs are what I hold a special interest in. It's not part of the program but I'll be glad to give you some lessons on the subject when we have the time. What about you, what's your name and why did you pick biology?"

The professor continued interrogating other students in the room and Connor was relieved that the attention was turned away from his brother, and from him by extension. He really didn't like being under the spotlight. The following hour was spent in the same way and Connor really didn't see what the point of asking random students their motivations was since the professor would probably forget about them all by the next day, but at least the man would relate the answers to a certain aspect of his class from time to time; that it would be both lab-based and lecture style, that he expected them to speak up during said lectures whenever they had questions, and that he'd ask them to hand in a research paper once every two weeks so that they would gather everything they'd learned on the various subjects and make one big presentation at the end of the semester. This was on top of the group work and mandatory tests they'd have to do every week. Professor Andronikov also shared stories about his place of birth in Russia and how he'd ended up specializing in his fiel, as well as his current projects. The next hour was spent going over the program and answering questions about it, and Connor noticed that Professor Andronikov was someone who was prompt to reassure students. It was obvious his goal was to help them feel at ease. 

"Huh," said Chloe at one point. "The creep factor shows less than I thought it would, from what I'd heard."

"Maybe it'll come on later," Nines said. He sounded like he looked forward to it.

Connor kept his arms crossed over his chest. "I hope not. I like my teachers decent, thanks."

Chloe smiled.

When the class was over Professor Andronikov told them to try and go over the basics of molecular biology by themselves before coming into class the next day. Nines and Chloe stayed in their seats since they had the same class next, and Connor left with a wave of his hand before mingling in the stream of departing students. People were staring at him and he ducked his head, and then he realized that he wasn't the only one attracting attention when he heard someone next to him say: "Check out the shiner on that guy."

Connor lifted his head and saw another student walking a few feet on his left looking like he'd just gotten stamped on the face with red and purple ink. That had got to hurt. Connor didn't see him for very long, however, because then the tan silhouette was swallowed up by the corridor opposite to the direction Connor was leaving in. He found himself hoping there wouldn't be too many troublemakers in his year while he headed for his first class in Introduction to Forensic Science. The last thing he wanted was to get involved with one of them.

Markus yawned as he headed towards the building dedicated to Studio Art Majors. He'd nearly fallen asleep during Professor Andronikov's class and it wasn't because it was boring; he'd stayed up too late playing Animal Crossing, hadn't seen time go by even after Josh had messaged him good night. Initially it had been to calm his nerves after his fight with Leo but he'd ended up spending the entire evening on the game. Markus rubbed his face and winced when the motion woke up the ache in his right socket where he'd just pressed down on the bruise like an idiot. At least now he was fully awake. Markus dropped his hand and screwed up his eyes as he approached the building, waiting for the pain to pass. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out to check the message. It was North telling him in which classroom the others were waiting. He smiled and picked up the pace.

Markus was greeted by a cheer when he stepped inside the classroom. "Eyyy, our Messiah's back!"

He spun around and his grin widened when he saw the small group waving at him from the back of the room.

"Holy shit, Markus!" exclaimed Simon, his hand freezing in the air. "What's up with your face?"

"Bet, it's gonna be Leo," North said with a smirk.

"Bingo," Markus said, but the thought of that asshat wasn't enough to dampen the joy of finally meeting up with his friends. Josh stood up when he came closer and they hugged, and then Markus fist-bumped the two others who hadn't gotten up from their seats. "I missed you guys! How are you all doing?"

"Pretty good, actually," said North with a bright smile. "Learned some neat new tricks back home and I can't wait to show you guys."

"We should go as soon as we can, I really need to get back to it. I couldn't bring my bike with me on the trip with my family so I've been getting a little rusty," said Josh. 

"That's why roller blades are better," asserted Simon. "You can bring them everywhere with you."

"Yeah, yeah, we know, roller blades are the superior wheels," said North with a roll of her eyes, and then she noticed something about the boy standing in front of her. "Hey Markus, where are yours?"

Markus sheepishly rubbed the side of his head. "Uh... It's kinda... Broken. Slammed a trick again and it snapped."

"Aw, man, so now we gotta wait for you to get another one," groaned North, not looking surprised in the slightest. "I keep telling you to look into 8ply."

"It's fine, it's fine, I'm getting it later today," he quickly reassured them. "We can probably go break it in tonight."

"At least you get to make a brand-new painting," said Josh.

"I miss the Messiah one," said Simon.

Markus nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking of making an alternative of it. Plus if I buy a stronger deck it might last longer, so might as well make it look as cool as back then." 

"Nice," said North.

Josh changed the subject. "So how'd your first class go?"

"I don't know, I didn't really pay attention," admitted Markus.

"What class was it?" asked North. He hadn't told the others about it, only Josh.

"Biology."

"Biology?" she echoed. "Why the hell would you take biology?"

Markus shrugged. "It looked easy."

"Biology is _not_ easy, you doofus!"

"It's fine, it's fine. The prof looks cool and it sounds pretty interesting."

North shook her head. "You have no idea what you're getting into."

"Oh, because you do?" he retorted.

"Actually yeah," she shot back. "I happen to have a girlfriend majoring in Biomedical Engineering who knows better how biology courses go down than some happy-go-lucky Studio Art Major!"

"Oh right, your girlfriend," said Simon. "That means Markus probably saw her right?"

"You girlfriend?" stupidly repeated Markus.

North's expression turned smug. "Ya girl's got wayyy more game than the three of you losers combined."

"Not really surprised," noted Simon.

"Aw, thanks Simon."

"What's her name?" asked Markus.

"Chloe. She said she'd try to come over when she'd have the time so I can introduce her to you guys. But yeah, back to the subject: Markus, get your ass out of there while you still can."

"No. I'm sticking to it," declared Markus. "I'm curious."

"Fine, but don't come whining to us when you realize you suck at your science assignments."

Markus grinned at her. "Guess I'll just have to ask your girlfriend for help then."

North laughed. "Yeah right, like I'd feel threatened by your dumb ass."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 17/04/2020 -
> 
> Hey pumpkin!  
> The Jericrew is here, woot! They and their shenanigans are a lot of fun to write.  
> What do you think of Zlatko and Chloe?  
> I don't know why I enjoy writing RK bros so much but I definitely do. Look at these boys. Look at all that brotherly ribbing.
> 
> On a different note, it's really killing me that some people are reading this story and I can't even see it! I've heard it was difficult commenting too without an account? But if there's readers I'll keep posting, hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you feel like it!


	4. And They Were Lab Partners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: dissection of a hand in anatomy lab class (from "Markus started regretting his choice to stubbornly stick around in bio class just a little bit" to "that was it, Markus was going to hurl")

Yeah, so maybe Markus was in over his head with this whole biology business. He'd been hanging on and it _was_ interesting, really, it was; but focusing on molecules and their names just wasn't the same as focusing on painting techniques. It didn't speak to him like art did. After struggling with the concept that the knowledge of these complicated itty bitty components constituting the entire world was considered basics in biology, he'd spent the weekend moping around in his bedroom wondering if he really _was_ too dumb for science. Markus didn't want to give up so easily, he'd chosen biology not just because the program looked cool but also because there were things he'd thought the subject would help him understand about other people. Like why the hell Leo's brain was so hooked on drugs. Like if there would ever be a possibility for Carl to walk again. Like how he could impress his mom with science facts about the plants she'd been tending to on the balcony for so long. And it was just like that Richard Stern guy had said, it sounded cool to learn how the human body worked; anatomy classes would probably be amazing help for drawing bodies. Markus didn't want to give up on biology so quickly, and contrary to what he'd told Carl, it really wasn't his style. He had reasons for doing this, dammit, he was going to stick to them.

So Markus sulked all through Saturday and half of Sunday before he decided that he wouldn't let some stupid molecules bully him into thinking he was too stupid to follow through with his initial decision. During the next week he found additional arguments in favor of sticking around, like how Professor Andronikov was a cool teacher, and how this John guy he'd sat next to was a nice dude, and how there were some pretty cute guys and gals to ogle at in biology class. It didn't help his focus at all, but Markus hadn't seen this much eye candy in his art classes last year. Was it always like this in biology courses? Damn, he'd been missing out.

Sometimes he'd greet Chloe when they crossed paths and he had to say North had done really well for herself. The girl was a little miss perfect incarnate: pretty, smart, funny, prim and proper. They usually crossed paths before walking into the auditorium and then they'd each go their separate ways, because Chloe had her own little clique of friends and Markus preferred hanging out with people who _didn't_ have an IQ of over nine thousand. News went around fast and Markus had soon learned that Stern was a big name around here. For a while Markus had observed the two brothers from his spot higher up in the rows and he'd come to the conclusion that 1) they were both good-looking and 2) they were probably cool to hang out with if someone like Chloe appreciated them. Still, it was kind of intimidating knowing that both of them had aced all of Andronikov's tests so far, and the one with the brown eyes had even gotten perfect scores. Markus was pretty sure this was the kind of college student to read textbooks all evening instead of going out to party. Crazy.

"I think I'm gonna ask the Stern brothers to pair up with me and John," he declared one evening as he was hanging out with his friends in his bedroom.

"The Stern brothers?" echoed Simon as he lowered an Uno card on the stack at the center of their little square.

"Chloe's friends," North supplied. "But Markus, I thought you didn't like hanging out with the big brainers?"

"Yeah, but they're the best in our year. It's easy good grades! I'll just slide over and go 'heyyy so I heard you're insanely good at science' before anyone else can grab them."

"You filthy opportunist," grinned North. Markus didn't deny it. 

"You don't know them," Josh pointed out, picking up two cards.

"Wouldn't hurt to try," said Markus with a shrug. "They're friends with Chloe after all, there has to be something cool about them, right?"

All of his friends shrugged too.

"They've known each other for some time," North told him. "It's not going to be the same with you. They're all super rich kid heirs to bigwig companies, who knows what they're like with people from outside that circle."

"I'm gonna try," decided Markus.

He did, the very next day. His plan wasn't super developed. They were always in the same seats and they were always early, so Markus just slipped into the free seat next to Chloe and smiled at them all. "Hey, Chloe. Mind introducing me to your friends?"

Chloe smiled at him brightly and gestured to the two brothers. "Sure! This is Connor, and this is Nines. Connor, Nines, this is Markus. He's one of North's friends."

"Hi," said Nines, blue eyes welcoming much like Chloe's had been the first time she'd met Markus.

"Hello," said Connor. He sounded more polite, and for some reason careful, like he already knew Markus from some unpleasant memory. Which was really weird because they'd never talked before. Markus definitely wouldn't have forgotten directly meeting such a cute guy.

Chasing the odd feeling, Markus flashed his most charming smile at the two boys. "So I'll be honest, I know you two are super good at biology and me and my friend John were wondering if we could pair up with you to make a group of four like the prof asked us to do. I'm really hoping you're not already taken."

"Wow, Markus!" exclaimed Chloe, and she laughed at how shameless he was being. Nines was smiling but Connor was studying him with the straightest of poker faces Markus had ever seen on anyone before, which probably didn't bode that well for his conquest. He noticed the other student's gaze kept drifting to the side of his face and he remembered that he still had traces of the black eye Leo had given him. Chloe had mistaken him for some kind of fighter when North had introduced her friends to her girlfriend the first time, and they'd promptly dispelled that first impression, but Markus figured that these rich kids probably wouldn't want someone who looked like a bully into their group.

"Oh, uh, don't worry about this," Markus said as he pointed to his face. "Not the result of a bar fight, I swear! I'm not here to make trouble or anything. I'm really just looking for work partners."

"I'd be fine pairing up with you guys," said Nines, and he looked over at his brother inquisitively.

"...Yes, why not," eventually said Connor. The lack of enthusiasm felt like a personal offense at this point but Markus wasn't one to get affected by little details like that.

"Great!" he exclaimed. "We're gonna do amazing work together."

"Definitely," said Nines, amused, while Connor didn't answer anything at all. 

Markus returned to his seat to share the good news with John after that, telling him that Nines seemed like a cool guy and Connor was probably shy or stuck-up or both but they'd remediate to that over time for sure, and then he messaged his victory to the Jericrew group chat. Josh sounded impressed, Simon curious to know more, North said something about flirting, and then the anatomy class started. 

Markus started regretting his choice to stubbornly stick around in bio class just a little bit when he realized that he'd have to sit through lab classes like the one that took place two days later if he wanted to eventually learn about the human body in more detail and also, incidentally, get some sweet sweet academic validation. He just hadn't expected the first human anatomy class to smell so... corpsy. Markus made a face when several students stepped up to the table with no hesitation. He did _not_ want to approach the pasty, rigid limb lying right there in front of him. Apparently biology students in other places weren't usually required to get all up in dead bodies from the get-go, but Professor Andronikov happily said it was thanks to him that they were allowed to in this college. That was slightly less cool of him. 

"Today is just an example to show you what it's like dissecting a part of a human body," smiled Professor Andronikov. "But you'll get to dissect a corpse at the end of the year! It's the best way to learn, you'll see."

He was way too enthusiastic about this. Markus felt his palms grow clammy as the professor reached over for one of the instruments- a sharp scalpel.

"So, the first incision is always a bit disturbing for students when they do it themselves," explained Professor Andronikov. "It's understandable. You're cutting into a human when you've been taught all your life that this is a bad course of action, and very unethical. But a corpse is different! Usually the biggest issue students have is the unreasonable fear of hurting the person they're cutting. It's instinctual. This is where I come in and tell you not to worry! The person is dead! They won't feel a thing. But for now, it's much easier to show you on a limb."

The blade pushed into the pale skin and slid down smoothly, like a knife through butter. Markus tried not to cringe.

"Of course, I don't expect you to be fine with a big dissection on your first anatomy lab, which is why I decided we wouldn't look at noble organs or anything else that might be too shocking for you," the professor reassured the group."Though I can promise you that you'll be much more comfortable once you've seen their beauty. I'd know, I've built my whole career on them!"

The man chuckled good-naturedly. Markus swallowed when he saw the ease with which he handled the scalpel as he started another cut.

"We will begin with a simple study of the hand. You'll see, it's a very pretty part of the human body. The bones are delicate and the muscles are varied." 

Professor Andronikov's fingers inadvertedly dragged across one of the corpse's and the man didn't look like he cared that he was directly touching a stiff pinkie finger. It smelled like death. Markus didn't feel super good.

"Now this might be a bit offsetting, but the goal is to cut a section of skin so I can then peel it back like a trap door of sorts. This is where this handy little instrument comes in, to scrape off the fat without damaging the muscle beneath."

Professor Andronikov grabbed another instrument, flatter and blunter, as well as some pincers. His thick fingers were surprisingly agile as they spun the pincers around to fit his hand and then he grabbed the edge of the skin and started pulling. Just outright pulling. The skin started coming away and both fat and muscle glistened underneath. Markus was already feeling kind of faint, but then the action of tugging at the skin pulled at the fingers and they seemed to twitch.

That was it, Markus was going to hurl.

"What the-" exclaimed a voice next to him when he frantically pushed the other students back, and Markus almost tripped over his own feet in his haste to get away from the arm.

"Oh, there we are," lightly said Professor Andronikov. "Here, you, help him step outside."

"Sorry," mumbled Markus behind his hand as he felt someone take him by the shoulder.

"There's no shame in feeling sick, this always happens to at least one student every year," cordially said the teacher. "Just go breathe some fresh air and you'll be back to normal in no time."

Markus felt too queasy to be embarrassed as he stumbled out of the lab beneath the gazes of the group, and as soon as he was outside he leaned against the wall and slid down to a crouch. He closed his eyes and willed his nausea to abate.

"I can't get that damn smell out of my nose," he moaned miserably.

"It's anatomy, what did you expect?" sharply said the guy who'd guided him in the hallway.

Markus raised his head to face him and was surprised to see Connor Stern standing right there. He looked stern all right.

"Can't say I've been around a lot of corpse limbs before," stated Markus, feeling a bit annoyed himself because the guy wasn't showing a shred of empathy.

"There's this thing called common sense," retorted the other student. "Dead bodies decompose."

So, maybe not that cool to hang out with after all. This guy was clearly a prick.

"Okay, okay," said Markus. "No need to get all pissy about it."

He obtained an indignant glare in response. "The first human dissection lab of the year, and I have to accompany _you_ outside because you can't handle one measly arm! Meanwhile the professor's demonstrating how to correctly dissect it, which, in case you haven't heard, we're supposed to learn to do ourselves. And I certainly can't learn it out _here_."

"You might not be the best for _one_ thing in Andronikov's course, big deal," muttered Markus.

Connor's voice was cutting. "Figures _you_ wouldn't know the first thing about being the best."

Markus frowned at him. "Hey, I can tell you're just as done with my shit as I am with yours, so just go back already. I don't need you babysitting me, I can puke by myself, thanks."

"Good," curtly said Connor, and he spun around and disappeared back into the lab.

Markus stared at the closing door in equal disbelief and anger. What a huge _prick_. He felt so annoyed he didn't even need to throw up anymore. How was it possible for someone as nice as Chloe to be friends with this stuck-up jerk? Not to mention that Connor's brother was so much nicer than him! Markus stood back up and went to the nearest restroom to splash his face and drink some water. It was the first time he'd talked alone with Connor Stern and it really shouldn't have surprised him in retrospect that this was what the guy was like when his true colors showed. Big brain, big name, he probably despised anyone that didn't belong to the sphere his parents worked in. Typical smarmy rich kid. Markus shouldn't have asked to pair up with him if that was what it would be like working together. He wiped his face on his black shirt and frowned at his reflection, annoyed. Why did he still find Stern so attractive?

"... 'and I have to accompany _you_ outside because you can't handle one _measly_ arm.'"

"He really said that?" asked Simon with a little smile.

"Like some offended old British lady from the Victorian era."

North laughed louder.

"It's not funny," sullenly said Markus. "The worst is that he's cute. It's always the mean ones."

"Maybe you just have a thing for jerks," teased Simon.

"Oh damn. I think you're onto something Simon," North said.

"Knock it off, guys, I'm still pissed."

"Oh yeah, you sound like it. _He's so cute, guys, so mean but so cuuute._ " North batted her eyelashes and Markus couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, but he's actually such a hottie."

North grinned, shaking her head derisively. "And you're actually _such_ a slut."

"Guilty," conceded Markus with an equally wide smile. Sure, North had a girlfriend now and whatever, but they all knew the one who really had the most game was Markus. He was always playing.

"Maybe don't go for the jerks," said Josh in a very reasonable tone.

Markus helplessly shrugged. "I'm not the one who chooses when the gay turns on, it just does it by itself."

"The gay cannot be controlled," agreed Simon.

"Tell me about it," said North.

Josh stared at them all and sighed. "Okay, sure. At least keep it in your pants."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that," said Markus. "He's attractive but he's not _that_ attractive. I still have standards."

Josh calmly raised an eyebrow at that and Simon chuckled.

"Okay, okay," backtracked Markus. "I have _one_ standard, this is it. He's a prick, of course I'm not gonna sleep with the guy."

North nodded approvingly. "That's a good standard."

"Right?"

"Are you seriously encouraging this? He could definitely do with a few more," said Josh. 

" _You_ have too many," North shot back. "When's the last time you got some action, grandpa?"

Josh frowned at her. "Shut up North."

Simon changed the subject before the two others could start fighting again. "So how're things looking now that you're paired up?"

"I know... Turns out I kinda screwed myself over pretty badly, huh. Who knows when we'll get to change the pairings again. I just hope he's not the kind of jerk to rub it in my face, I'd be fine with him not bringing up how I nearly puked on his shoes. Actually I'd be fine with him ignoring me, he's cuter when he doesn't talk."

"Well, it's as you said, at least you'll get good grades and he's nice to look at," Simon said in a comforting tone.

"He's such an ass though," mumbled Markus.

North laughed at him. "That's what you get!"

The first group assignment took place the week after. There were microscopes, sketches to do, slides to prepare, and Professor Andronikov talking on and on in the background about his research. Markus found himself getting more and more creeped out by their biology teacher's enthusiasm about organs, bringing up the subject even when the lesson they were working on didn't have anything to do with it- at first glance. Apparently everything was linked to organs. Markus was ready to admit that Andronikov's work sounded really cool from what he'd gleaned from the man's digressions and the articles he'd read at the beginning of the year when he'd been interested in learning about his teachers' work, but that didn't mean he had to appreciate the systematic organ talk. Markus glanced at Connor. _He_ probably did. Amanda Stern had created CyberLife and their main goal was to make synthetic cells that could evolve like natural ones. Synthetic cells, synthetic body parts, one probably led to the other in either direction when you worked in that domain. Connor's brother definitely looked like he found Andronikov's creepy rants interesting.

Thankfully there wouldn't be another human dissection for a while but they still had to dissect animals from time to time, and the five teams Markus' group had divided into for the first lab class always stayed the same. There would be no change in the pairings for the rest of the semester and Markus was not overjoyed to hear that, but that was just the way it was. Connor didn't talk to them much and Markus didn't think it was just the result of their little spat during anatomy lab class, since he tended to ignore John too. In fact, Connor made no allusion to what had happened between them. In the end it was just Richard and Connor on one side, John and Markus on the other, and they'd naturally split the work like that. Each of them minded their own business unless they needed help; the ones asking for it were always Markus and John. Richard was usually the one doing most of the interacting. Well, not Richard; he insisted to go by Nines for some reason.

"You're in the same team and you don't talk?" asked Simon when Markus told the others about how the group labs went.

Markus shrugged. "Barely. Might be that he's too shy or studious about it, but after what happened the last time I guess he just doesn't think we're worth the attention."

"What a prick," said North admiringly.

A thing Markus quickly noticed was Connor's tendency to lift anything he was holding to his mouth; pen, eraser, you name it. It was annoying because Markus always found himself looking at the guy's lips and if there was one thing Markus _didn't_ want, it was for Stern to think he had eyes on him. Yeah, he did, but he didn't want to give Connor the satisfaction of knowing it because he knew pricks like him truly wouldn't get over themselves then. Plus Markus wasn't even looking at his mouth because he wanted to, it was just the things Connor kept holding there that kept attracting his attention.

It was very annoying that Connor Stern had such pretty lips.

Markus caught himself staring again. Goddammit. He promptly slammed his gaze back down to the glass slide he was preparing to study animal cells and in doing so bumped the side of his face on the microscope. _Goddamit._ Markus gritted his teeth to ride out the pain and hoped no one had noticed he'd bonked his eye on the damn microscope, Connor especially. How had Markus gotten so distracted he couldn't even remember that his face was right above the lens? It wasn't even sexy the way Connor was currently bringing the hilt of his scalpel to his mouth, its lower part was still speckled with slimy stuff even though the blade had been taken off. Gross. It was also mildly concerning that the guy kept doing that with the scalpel. Markus' eye was watering so he leaned down and pretended he was looking through his stuff to discreetly wipe at the tears with his sleeve.

"Are you okay?" whispered John next to him.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine," Markus whispered back as he straightened in his seat.

"But you're crying."

Connor and Richard both glanced at him, and then went back to their work. Great. Now they'd probably think Markus cried over dead animal cells.

"Just something in my eye," he whispered as loud as he could so everyone would know he most certainly did not cry over dead animal cells. "It's itchy."

"We're very happy to hear that, Markus," said Professor Andronikov from the front of the room. "Now focus, or it'll be _your_ eye we'll be dissecting next class."

Markus shot the teacher a glance, unable to repress how uneasy the comment made him feel even if he knew that this was just a humorous manifestation of Professor Andronikov's weird obssession. 

The man chuckled when he saw his expression and lightly said: "It's a joke, of course. No need to look so alarmed."

The others snickered and Markus quickly looked down at his workbench, embarrassement prickling at his nape. Even John and Nines looked amused. Connor hadn't lifted his gaze up from the sheet of paper he was scribbling on and Markus realized he didn't even feel remotely surprised by that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 29/05/2020 -
> 
> Hey pumpkin!
> 
> Yayyyy they met! Internally Connor was squinting really hard at Markus and his leftover bruise, haha. If Nines and Chloe hadn't been there he probably would've refused to pair up outright (thank you Nines and Chloe!)  
> I'm having _so_ much fun writing everyone as their college selves! Especially Markus, he's so funny. What a dork (Connor is too, don't worry, it'll come).  
> Does anyone of you share his getting squicked by dissections?
> 
> Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you feel like it!
> 
> PS : I'm not sure which fic between [Pigments and Solvents](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23396377) and [Lucky Dog](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23824687) I'll focus on in the future, so if there's one you prefer, please let me know on this [poll](https://twitter.com/losttanuki/status/1266362682304688130)!


	5. Extra Credits

Connor was getting used to the routine of college classes and adapting to the teachers.

Introduction to forensic science had sounded ideal on paper but the drone of Professor Perkins' nasally voice was usually only tolerable for the first ten to twenty minutes; after that, it made it difficult to concentrate and feel invested in whatever it was he was talking about. Professor Perkins also had a tendency to pick on his students, which Connor really didn't appreciate. Professor Reed had the same kind of inane mentality, only louder and ruder; thankfully Nines and Chloe took the same course and their presence made Mathematics lessons a little less tedious to follow. Biology was interesting since Professor Andronikov was so passionate about what he taught them and human anatomy had always been a specialty Connor had felt attracted to. 

However, in the end it was chemical reactions and equations which he could understand and accomplish with the least effort; Chemistry had quickly turned out to be the course Connor felt more at ease in. It was unfortunate that Mister Anderson was the one teaching it, since Amanda didn't want Connor to have anything to do with him. The man was gruff, hadn't said a word about himself on their first lesson aside from his name, current profession and how he preferred that his students called him Mister instead of Professor, but he was a good instructor and Connor appreciated his no-nonsense attitude towards his students. Connor wondered why Amanda had told him to steer clear of this teacher, and he also wondered how he'd manage it since it had turned out Mister Anderson was his freshman advisor.

"Stern, meet me in my office at five," the man called out to him just as class ended and everyone started packing their stuff.

Connor felt a jolt of nervousness at the thought of talking to the chemistry teacher one on one when it was exactly the opposite of what his mother wanted, but he nodded and Mister Anderson gathered his own belongings before leaving the room. Mister Anderson wasn't one to expand on small matters so the fact that he hadn't stated the motive behind this invitation wasn't unexpected, but Connor wished he knew why he was standing in front of the heavy wooden door later that same day. He hoped this meeting would go fast and that it didn't mean he was in any kind of trouble. He lifted his hand and politely knocked on the door three times.

"Come in."

Connor pushed the handle down and stepped through the door. The place was clean and sober, and at first he saw no decorations, no plants, no paintings, nothing. 

"Hello, Mister Anderson. You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah, sit down," said the professor with a curt nod towards one of the two chairs in front of his desk.

It was when Connor approached that he caught sight of the stickers and postcards taped beneath the glass surface. The display was surprisingly personal. He did as he was told and lowered his backpack next to the chair before sitting in it.

"I wanted to talk to you about your Minor choice," said Mister Anderson. "You mentioned you'd choose one once you got your bearings in your two Majors. As I'm sure you're already aware, enrollment deadlines are approaching. What's it gonna be?"

"I don't know," admitted Connor. "I was thinking of a Human Anatomy Minor but the Chemistry and Biology Majors are more time-consuming than I thought they'd be."

Mister Anderson lifted his eyebrows. "You didn't see this coming? I thought it would be pretty obvious that handling two Majors wouldn't be a piece of cake, and two science Majors at that."

"It's not... It's not that it's difficult. I know my limits and I'm confident I can handle a Minor in addition to those," said Connor. "I just need one that won't impede on my two Majors' schedules."

"Are you positive you want one?" said Mister Anderson in a heavy tone of voice which indicated he really didn't think that would be a good idea.

Connor didn't waver. "I need the extra credits."

"Does it absolutely have to be another science program?" he insisted.

"Yes. It's the kind of domain I want to work in."

"All right, but you do know a Minor can be used to widen your horizons, don't you? You don't have to pick every single course you take with your future job in mind. You're in college, you get to have superior education on a lot of topics, take advantage of that! You've already picked two Majors in the science field. If it's extra credits you need, you can get them while still having a little fun."

Connor had never thought of it that way. Amanda had always trained him to think in terms of productivity and successful outcomes; if there was a goal to reach then he needed to accumulate all the chances he could get on his side. Fun had never really been a part of the process.

"Okay," suddenly said Mister Anderson when Connor stayed silent for a bit too long. "Look, I always make sure to give students time to think which is why I wanted us to talk about this a week before the deadlines. We'll go over this again in three days so try to reach a conclusion by then. I've made it pretty clear already but I'll say it again: I strongly advise you not to take a Minor in science. Wouldn't want you burning out because of a domain you're so intent on working in later. If you really can't envision a different Minor, then I guess we'll just have to go over them together."

Connor nodded. "Thank you."

"Yep. You can go now, but give it serious thought, all right?"

"Yes, I will." Connor grabbed his bag and rose from his seat.

"And Connor?"

He stilled, looked at the teacher. "Yes?"

Mister Anderson rose meaningful eyebrows. "A common mistake freshmen make is to push themselves too fast, too far. You're going to be here for the next few years, so careful with that."

Connor nodded again and said: "Thank you for your advice."

He left without really heeding it, however. He was used to doing what his advisor had warned him against, it was necessary that Connor pushed himself so that he'd be better. Only by being better would he be good enough.

* * *

"What's up with you?"

Connor frowned at his papers before looking up at his brother standing in the doorway to his bedroom. "What are you talking about?"

"You're grumpy," Nines pointed out.

"I'm not grumpy."

"Yes you are." He let himself in without Connor's permission. 

"Nines, I'm working."

"Like always." Nines dropped on Connor's bed. "So, what's up?"

"Get out of my room."

"Did something happen with Mom?"

Connor gave up on trying to get Nines to leave and put his pencil down. "No, it's my Minor. I still need to choose it and I'm stuck, Mister Anderson says I shouldn't pick a science one even though it's always been my intention to."

Nines gazed at him curiously. "He made you change your mind?"

"I know I'm not supposed to have anything to do with him but he made some good points. I don't know if mom would agree with them, though, even if I told her about them like they came from me."

"What would you pick if you didn't go with Human Anatomy in the end?"

"I don't know... Criminal Justice sounded interesting but it's the same problem, the classes don't fit with my two Majors."

"You could take Psychology with me," suggested Nines.

Connor shrugged. "I'm not interested. People are complicated, end of story."

"Wow. Way to reduce centuries of mental and behavioural work."

"Not feeling it, sorry," said Connor completely unapologetically.

Nines pensively looked down at the ground. "You're good at drawing."

Connor let out a laugh at that, and then realized his brother wasn't joking. "You can't be serious."

"What?" said Nines. "It's true."

"An _art_ Minor? Come on. You know mom would never agree to that, and besides there's nothing in it for me. What would I even do with an art Minor?"

"I don't know," defensively said Nines. "I'm just trying to find ideas! It's still credits you can find use for."

Connor shook his head. "An art Minor would be pointless, find something else."

"Hey, I'm not going to choose for you. You're not even trying!"

"Okay, okay, I'll find something on my own then." Connor picked his pencil back up and automatically brought it to his lips. "This is more complicated than I thought."

"Yeah, I don't know how you're doing it, one Major's more than enough," declared Nines. 

Connor absent-mindedly nodded. It wasn't really in agreement, just a motion to acknowledge he'd heard his brother.

Nines spoke again after a while. "Have you noticed the way the teachers keep looking at us?"

Connor lifted his gaze. "No."

"I caught the calc teacher staring again just today. And Professor Andronikov keeps walking close to where we sit and he's always asking me questions."

Connor thought about it. It was true Professor Andronikov seemed to have singled Nines out from the first day of class but Connor had never really paid attention to Professor Reed, since it cost him nothing to ignore the man's lessons. He already knew most of the demonstrations that would be displayed on the screen. At most, Connor would get annoyed at the math teacher's blatant disrespect of his students, but he really hadn't felt any particularly pronounced staring in his direction during those classes.

"Well, Professor Andronikov probably thinks you'd like to work with his team later since you said you wanted to learn to make organs."

"That's not exactly what I said."

"It must be what he's deducted with us being heirs to CyberLife and the interest we show his rants about his area of expertise."

Nines slumped back on the mattress. "What about Reed?"

"I don't know about him. Maybe it's you he's staring at?"

"That's reassuring," muttered Nines. 

"Maybe he's not staring for any real reason."

"Do you think he could have something against me? I've been doing fine in his class, though."

"Beats me."

Nines was silent for a bit and then he said: "Chloe was right about Andronikov. He _is_ kind of a creep."

"A little bit," agreed Connor. No matter how interesting the man could be, there was no denying he gave off weird vibes at times. 

"It really makes you wonder what it's like to work with someone like that every day, though. Dissection jokes must get really old really fast."

They talked about their teachers some more and eventually Nines decided to go study as well, and by "go study" he meant dragging his stuff in Connor's room and working on his brother's bed. Connor wasn't specially in favor or against it as long as Nines stayed quiet. Spending so much time together was a habit they'd never dropped since Nines had come back from boarding school a few years ago; Amanda didn't approve because she said it made them less productive, but they did it anyway.

* * *

That same week, Professor Andronikov declared that they'd have to be in assigned pairs for the next exam and Connor ended up partnered with Markus Arquet, the guy who'd asked him and Nines to join his group and who'd then nearly thrown up all over Connor's shoes at the sight of a corpse's arm. Connor had gotten pissed off because he hated wasting time when he was supposed to study, especially when it was out of his control, and it wasn't like he could've refused Professor Andronikov's request to help Markus out of the room. And the guy had taken hours getting his shit together. What had someone like him even been doing in human anatomy? John was often the one doing the cutting part between the two when they had to dissect an animal and Connor guessed that Markus had to have known beforehand that he was squeamish with this kind of thing, so why take the classes with human body parts? Was he just that clueless?

Connor didn't care much for these types: lacking determination, unable to stomach the sight of dead things, maybe a little bit dumb. It didn't help that Markus was the kind of guy who was overly friendly when he wanted something from another person, which Connor had guessed was a good group project grade when Markus had first recruited him and Nines. Markus hadn't tried to talk to him since the incident at the anatomy lab but sometimes Connor noticed him out of the corner of his eye gawking like an idiot. It was odd because Markus was only behaving this way with Connor while he seemed completely at ease with everyone else. Well, that had been the case up until now. Now that they were partnered Markus had reverted back to his initial display of open familiarity. He was currently leaning on his white rubber-clad hand and smiling at Connor.

"So, any idea where we're going with this?"

Connor almost rolled his eyes. He'd dealt with enough opportunistic group partners before to know the intent behind this kind of question.

"This is _group_ work, Markus, we're supposed to be doing this together. So either you take this seriously and take initiatives, either you let me do this in peace. I'm willing to carry you to that A+ but I'm only willing when I'm in a good mood, and you _pretending_ to care about what I think when you're really just hoping I'll do everything for you isn't-"

"Are you _ever_ in a good mood?" Markus cut him off with a teasing grin. Connor didn't like getting teased by people he barely knew and especially not by people who couldn't follow through with the smallest of dissections.

Connor stared at him coldly. "Are you in, or are you out?"

Markus shrugged in an infuriatingly careless gesture. "Sure, I'm in. I was just asking because I didn't understand the instructions, I'm not actually expecting you to hold my hand through the whole thing."

"Good," curtly said Connor. This was going to be a long assignment. "What didn't you understand?"

"I got lost when he explained the last steps. What are we using these for?" asked Markus, and to Connor's horror the heathen gestured _directly over the vials_.

Connor smacked his hand away and snapped: "Don't do that!"

Markus stared at him in shock. "What?"

"Never reach over equipment like you just did! You could tip something over!"

Markus kept staring at him like he was speaking another language. "But the teacher said it wasn't corrosive stuff."

"It could be on the next assignment, you idiot!" Connor couldn't help the harsh annoyance that had slipped in his tone. "Come _on_ , you're supposed to have picked up that habit by now."

"Yeah, you're right," said Markus, and then he looked down at the material in front of him and poked at the fish laying in its dish.

"Stop touching everything!" Connor nearly yelled, exasperated. 

Markus shot him a look like a scolded child and retrieved his finger. "Sorry."

Connor took a moment to collect himself, and then he muttered: "Okay, let's just do this."

"I still don't know what these are for," said Markus as he pointed at the glass tubes with his slime-coated finger.

Connor resisted the urge to close his eyes. This was going to be a _long_ assignment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 10/07/2020 - 
> 
> Hey pumpkin!  
> Introducing Hank! Finally our favorite gruff old guy shows up.  
> Nines is being the typical nosy sibling <3 But it's for Connor's own good, promise.  
> I'm aware I say this often but Markus is a dork.
> 
> Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you feel like it!


	6. Dents

The skateboard landed perfectly on its bolts and the boys hollered and hooted their enthusiasm in the ebbing daylight. North straightened and proudly beamed at them, effortlessly keeping her balance as her skateboard continued drifting.

"Beat that!" she challenged Markus, who'd been aimlessly rolling in wide circles around the skatepark's bowl while she jumped and dipped in confident somersaults.

Markus grinned and tipped his skateboard over the edge of the pit, letting gravity pull him forwards and bending his knees with the pressure of the bowl's curve pressing up against his skate's wheels. He built momentum on a few swings and then launched himself up over the side of the pit, but had to shift the trick into a more familiar one when he realized he'd land wrong. His hand shot out and grabbed the edge, guiding him back to the curved ground, and he heard North yell: "Almost had it!"

The wheels of Markus' skateboards clattered against the cement and he rolled down the side of the bowl, calling back: "Really?"

"Not even close!" answered North, laughter in her voice.

"Aw," Markus muttered to himself.

Simon was laughing too, and Josh said: "It looked cool though!"

"Thanks man!" Markus stopped at the opposite edge and flipped his skateboard up. "I'm pretty sure I can beat you when I get to practice this thing, North."

North crossed her arms over her chest and confidently leaned on her hip. "Doubt it."

There were less people left hanging around in the park now, most teens had gone back home for supper. Markus picked up his board to check if the paint was holding and decided it would probably be for the better if he added another layer back home. 

"Nice deck!" called one of the other skaters on the side. Markus looked up and didn't recognize him, but he appreciated the muscles exposed by the sleeveless T-shirt nonetheless.

"Thanks. Painted it myself," he answered with a smile.

The guy whistled. "Damn, that's some talent."

Markus' smile turned flirty and he added: "You can always hit me up if you'd like me to give _yours_ a paintjob." _Suggestive emphasis is where it's at._

The other's eyes widened. "Seriously? That would be rad, dude!"

Okay then, that reaction was a 100% straight. Markus turned down the smolder. "Yeah, it's not free though. I gotta go now, I'll see you around," he concluded with a short wave of the hand.

Markus heard North snicker and he turned to face his friends with a wry smile as he walked back up to them, shrugging in pure _what're you gonna do about it?_ fashion. The secret was to constantly throw bait, you were bound to catch a nice fish at some point.

"Okay, your turn," Josh said as he gestured to Simon and his green rollerblades. 

They were pretty flashy but Simon could afford to wear these because his skill was already attention-grabbing by itself. He didn't need to be asked twice to show off and dropped in the bowl, proceeding to spin when he jumped up on the other side and grinding backwards down the railing with his legs crossed. For all North and Markus liked to compete with each other, Simon was the one with the best mastery over his wheels. Josh wasn't as much of a perfectionist as the others; as long as he had a few tricks up his sleeve he only wanted to practice to maintain them, not necessarily learn more of them.

They'd been coming to this place for a year now and were familiar faces to most of the skaters and bikers that came here. It didn't have an official name but they called it Jericho Park because some religious nut had written lines of the Ancient Testament on the ground a few yards away from where Josh and Simon were sitting. The lines had been graffitied over a long time ago and no one would've been able to tell where exactly they were scrawled out, but it was well-known fact that they were there. Markus, North, Josh and Simon had added to the tags and doodles to varying degrees and could often be found practicing their tricks or simply hanging out there nearly every day. Markus' street art was especially appreciated by the park's regulars and it had quickly gotten out that it was his, but only the tightly knitted community of skaters knew about it and they kept his name to themselves. No one wanted to risk the local artist getting arrested. Markus' talent had kind of elevated his and his friend's status to some kind of urban legend and the group of four students had been christened the Jericrew by the others as a result. Markus had also gotten called Messiah by some people who'd witnessed his old skateboard when he'd first come here and the nickname had stuck, even though he'd often changed decks after that. He kept breaking them.

Simon smoothly placed one foot back in front of the other in the middle of his grind and North looked up at Markus from her spot on the ground.

"Hey, dork, got any interesting news from Planet Biology?"

Markus hesitated to dive straight first into complaints and quickly gave in with a sigh. 

"He's so mean."

"Annnnd here we go again. Please, do tell us more about Handsome McPrick. I can't get enough of the drama."

Simon's rollers hit the railing and then he reappeared in front of them, curiosity glinting brightly in his blue eyes. "I heard the word drama."

Josh shook his head. "You guys are hopeless."

"More like you gays are hopeless!" yelled North, lifting her hand. "Up top!"

Simon high-fived her loudly and Josh failed to hold back a smile.

"So is this about Stern? It's about Stern, isn't it," said Simon as he leaned against the railing next to Josh, absent-mindedly rolling his feet in a slight back-and-forth.

"Yeah... He yelled at me today."

"Again? What did he get pissy about this time?" avidly inquired Simon.

"Probably because Markus puked for good," cackled North.

"No, actually it was just because he thought I was going to make our stuff fall over. And I also touched the fish when I wasn't supposed to, I guess. I mean, we were gonna cut it up anyway so I don't get why it was such a big deal to him."

"He sounds really easy to annoy," observed Josh.

"He definitely is. Initially I thought I'd get revenge for how much of a prick he's been by making him uncomfortable or pissing him off or something, but in the end I didn't even do it on purpose. He can be really impassive and cold but his buttons are pretty easy to push once you find them."

"I'd like to have a go," said North.

Markus looked at her. "It's only fun until he gets mean." 

North frowned a bit. "What did he say?"

"He called me an idiot."

"That's it?"

Markus recalled the scene. Connor hadn't said anything else of the sort for the rest of the hour, he'd reverted to his usual cold demeanor once Markus had stopped putting his fingers everywhere without knowing what he was doing. It had been pretty impressive being by his side as he worked; it hit differently watching his progress directly compared to when they were each in their separate pairing. No wonder John and Markus always dragged the two Stern brothers down for every group project. Connor understood fast, thought fast, wrote fast, and every single movement of his was precise and clearly with a goal in mind. Markus hadn't known it was possible for another person to be this efficient. And smart. And good-looking.

_Argh._

Markus focused back on the conversation at hand and answered: "Yeah?"

Simon said: "I mean..."

North snorted.

"Simon," chidingly said Josh.

Markus indignantly leaned forward to correctly face both Simon and North. "Okay, it doesn't sound _that_ mean when I'm the one telling the story and I know I'm not the brightest, but that was really uncalled for coming from him. You guys are my friends, it's different when you call me stuff like dork or dumbass. He meant it as an insult for sure."

"If he insults you again just kick his ass," suggested North.

Markus rolled his eyes. "As if."

"Come on, it's not that bad. Just a little punch. A teeny tiny one."

"Nope. We're not all savages here."

"You've got to snap someday," she said nonchalantly. "You're always talking about how much of a prick he is, I bet if anyone causes it it'll be him."

"I'm not punching anyone," insisted Markus.

"Well, you're going to have to find something, you two can't keep going like this all semester," intervened Josh. 

"I think I'm going to stick with my original plan and make him uncomfortable," said Markus.

"Right, but you don't know how."

"I think he'd probably be the kind of guy that's easy to fluster. That's usually how it goes with stuck-up jerks like him." 

He'd come to the conclusion that maybe Connor _wouldn't_ be the kind of guy to get all high and mighty upon learning that another man was attracted to him, the way Markus had first pinned him to be. The situation from earlier today had shifted Markus' perception of Connor: he was the rich kid type, but rather than smarmy he seemed more like an antisocial and way too studious nerd.

"As long as you don't let him insult you the whole time."

Markus made a face. "I really hope we don't have to remain partners that long."

"That would be funny," said North.

"No, it wouldn't be. Because then that would mean I'd have to stop making him uncomfortable and actually try to make things work between us. I'm physically incapable of _not_ talking to a partner all the time and it's going to be hell if he ignores me because he hates me."

"You're a charmer, you'll find something," said Simon.

"Yeah well, I'd rather not need to. I'd be perfectly okay with changing partners soon."

"Wouldn't you miss his pretty face?" teased North.

Markus looked away in a show of carelessness, and his gaze landed on the dents in the railing Simon and Josh were standing against. He was reminded of those in every single one of Connor's pens. It annoyed Markus to realize that he'd noticed that detail, and even more so that he knew the reason for it was because he'd been staring at Connor's mouth so often. Sometimes he hated his stupid brain for finding so many things sexy, like the way Connor was always biting on something. The guy was super cold, he was mean, he'd scolded Markus like he was four years old, he was a huge nerd, and he was super uptight about rules- which was never something Markus had found cool or even remotely attractive. So why the hell was Markus still talking about him to his friends?

Suddenly, it hit Markus. Cute. Smart. Haughty. Distant. They'd known each other for weeks and Connor hadn't shown a single hint of warming up to Markus, and in the meantime Markus had been trying and failing to act like he didn't give a damn about Connor either. It was his primitive neanderthal instincts pushing him to go after someone who was his type and hard to get, simple as that. He looked back at North, who was waiting for his answer, and then at Simon and Josh. They had no idea what illumination had just struck him.

Markus facepalmed and grumbled: "I _really_ hate my stupid brain sometimes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 26/10/2020 - 
> 
> Hey pumpkin!  
> The Jericrew is sooo fun to write in college AU, just a bunch of queer kids naturally coming together as you do. A few of them have known each other since before college but they're all very close, ultimately.  
> Credit for the idea of Jericrew on wheels and Markus being a graffiti god goes to the server~ I'd probably die if I put a foot on a skateboard.  
> Markus, buddy... I feel you on those undesirable crushes. But I'm sure it'll lead to something wonderful~ Right?
> 
> Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you feel like it!


	7. A Misguided Reasoning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amanda's her own warning in this one. Here comes the emotional abuse train, tchoo tchoo

"I'm so done with that guy. Why'd the professor have to stick me with _him_ of all people?"

Nines shrugged, unaffected by Connor's complaints. It wasn't that he didn't care, but Connor tended to get irritated at people for small things that didn't really matter and he'd heard Connor groan about Markus Arquet a fair amount of times before. It was always because of the same things: too slow, lack of self-awareness, no respect for rules, completely ignorant and unable to understand even the most basic knowledge required to correctly use a lab.

"He doesn't even dissect anything!" Connor growled at the ceiling of his room, exasperated.

The outburst was completely random. They'd been silently working until a few seconds ago.

"Why are you talking about him all of a sudden?" inquired Nines.

Connor swivelled around, a scowl on his face. "I'm studying fish anatomy."

"Oh, right," nodded Nines, knowing exactly which lab class that lesson had reminded his brother of. He probably wouldn't ever hear the end of how Markus had nearly wiped the entire workbench clean of all glass instruments and then had poked the fish to smear its slime all over the place.

"And now I have to work with him _all semester?_ This is some sick cosmic joke."

"He's not going to bring your grades down, you can work on the group project alone like usual."

"I wish," bitterly said Connor. "But he insists on participating. I think he genuinely wants to have a part in the grade despite how clueless he is half of the time. I don't get him, what is he even doing in this kind of class?"

"Have you asked him?"

"No!" exclaimed Connor, as if the idea both offended and horrified him. "Then he'll think I want to be friends with him!"

"I'm pretty sure you've made the message clear already. Also, would that really be so bad?"

"I don't have time to waste with idiots."

"Harsh," said Nines.

Connor turned back around it his desk without answering. Yes, he was harsh, but at least he was honest with both himself and others. When Amanda wasn't asking him to manipulate them. 

"Have you chosen your Minor yet?" asked his brother.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You're the one who started freaking out in the middle of studying."

"And I'm done, so let's get back to it."

"What about me? Can I freak out?"

Connor turned back around again. "Sure. What's wrong?"

Nines hesitated for just a moment, and then he told him: "I hate all of this bullshit. We should run away."

"What bullshit?" asked Connor, and then in an afterthought: "Run away? What?"

"Yeah," said Nines with a nod. "You know. All this bullshit."

"I don't know, no," slowly said Connor.

Nines huffed a light, discontent sigh. "Somehow I didn't expect you to. All right, I just felt like saying it. Freak-out is over."

"Wait, wait, you can't just _say that_ and then not explain what you mean by it."

"But I can," Nines replied. "Reed sucks. There, now the freak-out's definitely over."

Connor agreed with that addition and it kind of reassured him that Nines was fed up because of the teacher, though he did wonder if it was also because of some other vague reason. "Did he do something in one of your classes?"

He and Nines shared a few with Professor Reed but apparently the maths teacher tended to single out Nines more often when his older brother wasn't there.

"Yeah, again. Like in every single class I have with him lately. I really don't know why he's so intent on ruining my life."

"What happened?"

"He just decided to point out that I did one little thing different from the way he would have for like, half an hour. It wasn't even an important demonstration I needed to learn, he just wanted to show he knew better than me."

"Have you told Mom about it?"

"So he can make fun of me in front of the whole auditorium for running to my mommy? Yeah, right."

"You know she has influence."

"I'm good, thanks."

Connor shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Nines rolled on his back on Connor's bed, lifting a textbook over his head. "You should definitely choose a minor that's not as taxing as science though."

"I got that the first ten times you told me."

"Just making sure you heard."

*

"Have you decided on a minor?" asked Mr. Anderson in lieu of greetings when Connor stepped inside his office.

"I haven't decided on a specific one, no," earnestly answered Connor. "But I think I'll do what you suggested I should. No science minor."

"Good," said Mr. Anderson approvingly. "That's already an important step. I take it you need help choosing then."

Connor nodded.

"There aren't a lot of Minors you can do that suit your Majors schedule, as you stated last time. The choice is very limited. There's Fitness, Art, Psychology, English Literature, General Anthropology, Digital Communication, Information and Media."

Connor tried not to make a face. It really went against every single habit of his to choose a minor that would not bring him a concrete advantage in building a path to his career. A very light and amused smile appeared on Mr. Anderson's lips.

"It's not easy, huh."

"No," said Connor.

"Look, I asked Zlatko- I mean Professor Andronikov- to show me your work so I could get a grasp of your abilities outside of chemistry. You know what I noticed?"

Connor shook his head. "I don't know."

"I noticed that you're pretty good at drawings in bio. He even told me you were one of the students in his course with the cleanest and most detailed dissection diagrams."

"You want me to do an Art Minor?" blurted out Connor before he could think to stop himself.

Mr. Anderson didn't look surprised by his reaction. "Yeah, Art. Science students generally aren't impartial to it but you did say you wanted to work in forensics. Honing your drawing skills would be useful, right?"

Connor suddenly found himself without words. His advisor's reasoning for him to take an Art Minor made a lot of sense and he felt a bit frustrated, but also annoyed and ashamed, that he hadn't thought about it in that way himself at all when Nines had first mentioned an Art Minor. 

"You've still got a bit of time to choose and you don't have to follow it, but that's my opinion on the matter."

Connor left soon after, and by then his talk with the chemistry teacher had already shifted his doubt and disbelief into certainty. Connor never stayed indecisive for too long: once something started making sense, he'd grab onto it and follow whatever path of reasoning was appearing to the end. Mr. Anderson was right, an Art Minor _wouldn't_ be as useless as Connor had initially thought it would be. It was because Amanda had always expressed spite towards any career that wasn't related to science that Connor had been unable to look past this bias. He knew it would be reasonable to follow Mr. Anderson's advice. What he was less certain of was whether Amanda would accept it or not.

*

"No." 

Her reply was dry and instantaneous and it was a tone of voice Connor knew all too well. He barely repressed a flinch. Usually he'd back off, but this was too important. He'd always worked hard for his future, wanting to be good at his job once he'd have it so that his mother would be proud of him, so that she could keep telling others that her son was the best.

"Mom, it makes sense, just please listen-"

"Your goal isn't to become an artist, Connor, and it certainly isn't to wallow in complacency. You are better than this. You will choose a Science Minor."

"I'm already pulled thin with two Majors," he insisted, showing courage he didn't really feel. He wasn't supposed to go against Amanda. It wasn't supposed to happen in this house. Doing so felt like he was upsetting the eternal equilibrium in their home and it made him sick to the stomach, but he held on. "I know I'm an exceptional student but even I have limits, and I think taking on a Science Minor will be too much for me."

Her dark eyes were cold. "Your choice of an Art Minor is mistaken and frankly ridiculous."

"It's an interesting prospect, drawing skills are important in the domain of forensic investigation and-"

"Was this your advisor's idea?"

Connor was shocked that she'd figured him out so fast. His shoulders slumped and he admitted: "Yes."

" _Why_ are you talking with Hank Anderson when I've purposely warned you against it?"

"He's my advisor," helplessly said Connor even though he knew she was already aware of that. "I can't avoid him when he summons me in his office."

But the argument wasn't worth much, and he could see in his mother's eyes that she was disappointed. He wasn't supposed to disappoint her. Connor didn't want to disappoint her, but it always ended up happening one way or the other as if he couldn't help being a failure. He knew he could've done better if only he'd tried harder. Amanda gazed at him silently and Connor felt a lump form in his throat. His hands were cold and clammy. She was waiting.

He lowered his eyes and murmured: "Sorry, Mom."

Amanda let out a light sigh. "I accept your apology, Connor, but this really won't do."

He nodded, ashamed.

"Should I understand from all of this nonsense that you refuse to pick a Science Minor?"

Connor hesitated, felt heat prickling behind his knees, under his arms, at the back of his head the longer he stayed silent. He knew exactly what she wanted to hear him say. Connor also knew that there were some limits to his human body that he shouldn't break, no matter how much he wanted to. He'd made that mistake once before.

He quietly said: "I think it would be for the best if I picked a Minor that wasn't as time-consuming."

Amanda was silent. It was a long silence, heavy with reproval and poisonous in all the things it left unsaid. Eventually she spoke again, her voice soft and measured and terribly cool.

"A misguided reasoning, but it seems I can't change your mind."

Connor lifted his head back up and desperately said: "There are other things I can- I've been making progress with Chloe, we've been getting closer!"

His mother's elegant poise was completely unfazed. Her voice had gone back to its usual light timber when she ordered: "Tell me more about her."

Connor knew it was just a facade. Everything about his mother was a facade, she was always hiding her real thoughts and intentions. She'd treated them the same way ever since they were kids, like they would never be grown up enough to truly understand her and as such shouldn't be allowed to try at all. Connor had rarely seen the mask crack.

Despite the distance between them, he knew that she loved him. There was no other reason for her to be burdening herself with his existence. There was no other reason she would sometimes reach out and gently touch his face, and smile at him, and show him her luminous approval. Amanda loved him, and Connor loved her back. It was an unconditional truth.

Connor complied to her command and felt a little bit relieved when his report on his relationship with Chloe seemed to appease Amanda, even if only slightly. She sent him away in the end.

"Connor," she called to him as he was about to step out of the living room.

He turned around to face her. "Yes, Mom?"

Amanda's lips were set in a thin, strict line. "You need to do better than this."

Connor felt something heavy and cold drop to the bottom of his stomach. He dipped his head to show her that he knew her reproach was entirely well-deserved before escaping up the stairs to go hide in his bedroom. The back of his eyes ached and so did his throat. He quickly and quietly shut the door behind him so that Nines would know not to enter, then walked to his desk at a measured pace. He breathed in and out, slowly, deeply, to try and master himself. He didn't want to cry. Not for this. Not for a reprimand he'd deserved, going against Amanda like that.

He hated when she was mad at him. Although she didn't hit him, sometimes he wondered if it would be easier if she did; if it would be easier to appease her that way, and pay for his mistakes, and allow things to move on. If it would prevent that lingering disappointment from hanging over his head in the days, weeks, sometimes months that followed. It probably wouldn't. The thought was still there, though.

Connor felt the tears spring forth anyway and heard the way the air whistled through his gradually stuffier nose, and he let himself fall in his chair and thrust his face in his hands. He was a disappointment. He simply wasn't as good as Amanda wished he was, there was no way around that. It didn't matter that he had the best grades or the best behavior when he kept disobeying her. Connor hated that he had so many limits, hated that they were all so close. If only he was faster to assimilate lessons, if only he didn't need sleep, if only he knew all of it already. Connor could've had better basic knowledge if he'd spent more time studying during summer, he knew it would've made college easier for him if he'd started reading these biology and chemistry books in high school, if he'd made up his mind earlier about the job he wanted to do. But he hadn't, and he needed to catch up, and he needed to be better. He hated disappointing Amanda.

Connor was tired. There was an emptiness inside of him that never really went away. He dragged it along with him and just kept going, working, studying, pushing himself to become someone Amanda would finally be proud of. There was no other path for him. There was no other choice he was willing to make. 

He knew Amanda would never leave him because she knew he was trying his best, even if his best wasn't good. Sometimes he disobeyed her and she disliked when that happened, but she would tolerate it as long as he had a logical and rational explanation to present for his choices. She was forgiving enough that she gave him chance after chance to make up for his mistakes. Amanda would not give up on him. His mother loved him so much when he pleased her, and she would never stop loving him once he became the person she wanted him to be. So, for her, he would keep trying. He would always try to be better. Always.

The tears dripped down his cheeks, onto the heels of his hands, down his forearms where they pooled at his elbows. The desk was warm beneath his skin, his face was hot, his trembling breaths as quiet as he could make them. It became hard to breathe. He felt that he didn't, and couldn't, deal with all the noise in his head right now. He'd put it away. He'd be stronger later, he'd deal with this later, he'd learn from this later. Just not right now. He was too tired right now.

Connor leaned back against his chair and tipped his head back, waiting for the switch to flip inside of him. Hot tears trickled out of the outer corner of his eyes, down his temples, sliding into the curve of his ears in a tickling sensation that rapidly cooled. His arms hung limply at his sides. Connor stared up at the creamy white ceiling and let the tears drip down the sides of his face as his mind finally numbed into stagnating silence.

Quiet.

Empty.

Connor breathed slowly, deeply. He didn't blink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 11/12/2020 - 
> 
> Hey pumpkin! Hope you're doing well. Happy Hanukkah to all the lovely jewish pumpkins out here <3  
> Well, Connor's a mess but no one is surprised. I don't really know how many people experience that kind of voluntary switch into numbness sometimes.  
> The worst is parents like Amanda are an actual real thing, ugh. They _exist_. Gross.  
> You know how I said this was gonna be more light-hearted than my other stuff? Hahahaha. I'm so funny.  
> Anyway my hand slipped when I spinkled the angst in and it spilled, so enjoy~
> 
> Thanks for reading, pretty please leave a comment if you feel like it! They are much appreciated in these hard times <3


	8. That Stuck-up Twink

North was the last of the four to show up in drawing class that day. The satisfied look on her face and the lingering traces of a blush told her friends everything they needed to know about why that was.

"I love her so much," she dreamily declared as she plopped down on the seat they'd kept for her.

"We know," listlessly said Josh. 

"You can't know how much I love her."

"We _know_."

North shot him a little frown.

"You tell us every day," stated Josh.

Simon chuckled. "Come on, Josh, just let her gush."

"Yeah, let me," North said. "Why do you have to be such a party pooper?"

"Did you bring me your part of the assignment?"

North annoyedly let her hand drop to the table with a slap. "Did you check up your ass?"

Josh disapprovingly crossed his arms over his chest and frowned back at her.

North relented. "I have it."

Simon turned to Markus. "Did you manage to do yours?"

Markus looked at him, finally clocking back into the present. "Huh?"

"The assignment," Simon said, and North asked: "What are you daydreaming about now?"

"Yeah, I finished it last night. And I'm not daydreaming," Markus denied. "I was up late."

North had a wolfish grin on her features. "Come on."

Markus caved almost instantly. "Stern."

"Oh, still not over the fact you have a crush on Jerkdude?"

Markus threw out his hands in exasperation. "How is it _possible?_ He's so stuck-up!"

"He must be _really_ cute for you to be attracted despite that," Simon observed.

"He's not even actually trying to play hard to get, why is my brain interpreting it that way? Am I just that desperate for some dick?!"

"Markus!" exclaimed Josh in an urgent and scandalized tone as North exploded in laughter.

Markus realized that he'd been talking way too loud because several heads had spun around to stare. It wasn't a secret that Markus was _very_ comfortable with his sexuality but they probably didn't care to listen to him have a crisis over how much he liked male genitalia at the moment. Markus quickly lowered his voice to accomodate his classmates but insisted on whispering: "Am I?!"

"I dunno, Markus, when's the last time you got any?" asked North.

"Way too long ago," he immediately answered.

"You've got your answer then."

"It's been way too long since I've had of either," Markus miserably complained.

"How long?" asked Josh with a little smile.

"At least _a week!_ "

Simon sighed, annoyed. "Come on, Markus, that's nothing."

"It is for me!" exclaimed Markus. "Sorry if I'm being insensitive because my game's better than yours, but I need this, okay? I'll shrivel up and die if no one loves me."

"Yeah, I think we get it."

"Aw, Markus, we love you," teased North.

"You know what I mean," he grumbled, and then he lowered his head in his hands in defeat. "It's pointless anyway, he's not even gay."

"How do you know that?" asked Simon.

"I mean he's super tight with Chloe, I think he might be into her?"

North scoffed. "Yeah right, like he'd have a chance. Chloe likes only one person and it's _this_ bitch."

"Doesn't solve my problem," mumbled Markus. Sudden movement at the entrance attracted his gaze when another student walked in, and his jaw dropped. 

"Markus?" said Simon when they saw his shift in attitude. 

North turned around to see what had caused this reaction but didn't see anything weird going on behind them, and she turned back to him with a raised eyebrow. "You okay?"

Markus slowly raised a finger. His three friends all looked in the direction he was pointing at, all equally confused when they noticed that the only thing out of the ordinary was that there was a new student in their midst.

"It's him," whispered Markus.

They looked at him incredulously, and Simon whispered back: " _Stern?_ "

Markus wordlessly nodded, and North was up in a second threatening the newcomer. "Hey you! Yeah, Stern!"

Connor looked up in surprise at the approaching redhead, confusion clear on his face as to why this perfect stranger was calling his name, and then she was right up in his face.

"You better not insult Markus in front of us or you'll get your ass beat, is that clear? And don't you try anything funny with Chloe, she's _my_ girlfriend."

Markus had never seen Connor this taken aback and the lost look on his face was pretty enjoyable. It seemed to take him a moment to fully understand what North was saying and his gaze darted around, apprehension forming in his brown eyes until it landed on Markus and his friends. It was clear as day what Connor thought in that moment: _you've got to be kidding._

Markus waved at him.

Connor ignored him and focused on North. "So you're North? North Weirriss, right?"

"Yeah," bristled North.

"I'm very glad to meet you. Chloe is a good friend of mine and she talks about you often," Connor said with a cordial smile, and he stuck out his hand. "My name is Connor Stern."

North looked surprised to see Connor reacting this amenably and Markus felt triple that amount of shock. How come Connor was so pleasant with her when their first interaction had been a threat? Markus had only barely gotten minimal respect from the guy and they were lab partners!

She eyed him warily and didn't make a move to take his outstretched hand. "Yeah well, you better watch yourself. Don't act all buddy-buddy with me, Stern, I know a prick when I see one."

Connor didn't even look fazed when he retrieved his hand, a little smile floating on his lips. "You seem rash and superficial but I know for a fact Chloe would never let such a person stay so close to her. First impressions aren't always the most truthful, are they, North?"

"He's smooth," said Josh, sounding impressed. Markus made a face.

North studied Connor for a bit and then declared: "Nice try, Stern, but you're not changing my mind." She turned around and went to join the others. Connor didn't watch her go, instead going back to unpacking his stuff like nothing had ever happened. North sat down in her chair.

"Why did you threaten him right off the bat?" Josh asked her in a hushed voice.

"Dominance has been established, my good bitch," she informed him. Then she scowled. "He doesn't get to call Markus an idiot. That's our thing."

"You looked like you found that funny when I told you guys," observed Markus.

"Yeah, because it was, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with it becoming a regular thing."

Simon was still shooting glances in Connor's direction. "He _is_ cute."

"Yeah," mumbled Markus.

"I thought you said he was stuck-up."

"He _is_. I don't know why he was so smooth just now."

"Maybe he's more at ease with girls?"

"Maybe," said Markus with a shrug.

"He's ignoring you," Josh said.

"Gee, I hadn't noticed, thanks for pointing that out for me."

Then the teacher walked in and the lesson started, so they stopped talking about Connor.

It was surprising that Connor Stern didn't get himself noticed for his exceptional aptitudes in art class the way he did in biology class. Sure he still had good grades, but they weren't the perfect scores he'd get in bio. The reason for that quickly became apparent: he sucked at real life drawings but managed to stay on top by handing in quality written assignments. Markus understood this during their sketching class, when he noticed from his spot a few easels away that the guy couldn't correctly draw a human body for the life of him. His drawings were absolutely atrocious, which was weird because Markus had seen Connor's work in dissection labs and his diagrams were always perfect. 

What _really_ pissed Markus off was when the naked model- a gorgeous six feet tall guy with dark hair, killer green eyes and beautifully tight muscles- not only stared at Connor during practically the whole session, but actually winked at him when the latter looked up to draw his face. This man had goddamn winked at Connor Stern but he'd never spared Markus a single glance when he was _right there_ and desperate for a good dicking. How unfair was that?

"What the hell," he growled under his breath.

"What?" asked Simon next to him. In the same moment Connor got up from his seat and left the room with his head down.

"You didn't see that? He just winked at Stern!" hissed Markus as he glared at Connor's retreating back. And what was that all about?

"I mean," said Simon. "Stern's not my type but he's pretty nice to look at."

"I'm nice to look at too! Why _that_ stuck-up twink and not me?"

North snickered in their backs. Simon said: "Come on, he's not a twink."

"He's not a hunk either," retorted Markus.

"Okay, then let's settle on calling him a twunk."

"Who cares! Did you see how he left just now? He probably can't stand getting flirted with."

"You think he's that kind of straight?" asked Simon musingly.

"I don't know, I don't give a damn. This isn't fair."

"You can always go for the model after class instead of playing on the world's smallest violin," suggested North.

"Focus, you three," Josh whispered reprovingly. "I swear, you guys gossip like old ladies on their balcony."

North stuck out her tongue at him but they did shut up, and Markus silently fumed as he sketched the model's very shapely thigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 19/12/2020 -
> 
> Hey pumpkin!  
> North is so sappy. She's the kind of person who hates listening to people going on and on about their significant other but she does it all the time.  
> Don't worry, Markus, your time will come~
> 
> Pumpkins, I would really appreciate comments, things aren't exactly easy lately and it does really lift my spirits when you guys react to what I write! Sometimes I'm too tired to even think of updating so it _is_ kind of an effort to update these days, and getting comments helps a LOT.   
> Thank you for reading, as always <3

**Author's Note:**

> Come by and say hi on [Tumblr](https://lost-tanuki.tumblr.com/post/184765301043/dbh-fics) (link to my DBH fic masterlist), and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/losttanuki)!
> 
> I now have a Discord server called the Pumpkin Patch server, you can pm me on Tumblr/Twitter to join. I'm looking forward to seeing you there!
> 
> Watch out for [Article 13/17](https://death-over-coffee.tumblr.com/post/184396267266/on-june-20th-the-juri-of-european-parliament), So far hasn't been a problem but you never know, it could stop me from finishing my fic one day. At least like this you're aware of it!
> 
> _  
> [Life Update for 2020-2021](https://lost-tanuki.tumblr.com/post/627373383760363520/life-update-25082020-hey-pumpkin-this)  
> _


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